New Delhi

Climate change is real. No matter what some politicians say to make it sound like a 'hoax'. It is real and it is here. The issue is directly connected with survival of humankind. In previous decades, scientists have been warning about global warming, greenhouse gases and many other aspects connected to the crisis. Climate change is no longer a future possibility, we are already witnessing the effects, just as scientists had predicted.

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Regions across the world are witnessing these effects and populations have begun to experience negative effects. This may become a ticking time bomb which may put strain on our healthcare as well as disaster management capacities. Effects of climate change can also reverse progress we've made in medical field over decades.

"Extreme weather events are becoming extreme health events," said Martin Edlund, CEO of Malaria No More, a global health nonprofit. Edlund was quoted by Reuters.

Mosquitoes infest new regions

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A link between climate change and mosquitoes appears a bit strange at first look as usual conversation around climate change tends to revolve around melting ice-caps, rising sea levels and so on.

But there indeed is a link between mosquito infestation and climate change.

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As average global temperature shows uptick, regions which were previously inhospitable to mosquito growth due to colder temperatures are now becoming more conducive to their growth. This has made vector-borne disease a common occurrence in regions which were previously not among the most vulnerable.

Warmer conditions and heavier rains in these regions are making it easier for mosquitoes to breed. As a result, pathogens causing dengue, malaria, Zika, West Nile etc., are spreading to more countries.

Also Read | Brazil sees all-time temperature record, climate change partly to blame

According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report cited by Reuters, cases of dengue rose to more than 5 million in 2019 from around half a million in the year 2000.

Edlund reportedly said that dengue cases in Brazil saw an uptick of 73 per cent against the five-year average. Bangladesh, the South Asian country has witnessed a record outbreak of dengue.

Climate change is also causing massive increase in cases of malaria. In the year 2022, more 5 million cases were detected than the year before, according to WHO's World Malaria Report.

Also Read | Climate change is costing us USD 16 million per hour: Study

The report cited Pakistan floods that hit the country last year, culminated in 400 per cent increase in malaria cases.

Malaria cases are now found even in highlands of Africa where the climate was prviously cold for mosquitoes.

Scientists are working on malaria vaccines and it is expected that two will be available next year. But this definitely does not mean that we should stop taking efforts to combat spread of the disease.

Troubled waters

Scientists have been warning that climate change will result in increased intensity and impact of natural calamities like cyclone, floods and more. We have already begun to witness this.

Storms and flooding are leading to easy spread of other water-borne diseases too. And even here, there is a danger that decades of progress in medical science will come to a nought.

Take cholera for example. It is an intenstinal infection caused and spread due to contaminated water and food. Without medical help, cholera can result in death in matter of hours. But years of advancement in the medical field has meant that cholera is not the dreaded disease it once was.

Also Read | Climate Change: Uniting the threads of causes, consequences, and visible impacts

However, it has been reported that the cases are on the rise again, even in the countries which had nearly eradicated the disease.

Numbers with the WHO say that cholera cases were reported in 44 countries last year. This amounted to a 25 per cent increase as comapred to numbers in 2021. In its findings the WHO has taken cognisance of effect of cyclones, drought, floods and other calamities which resulted in limited supply of clean water. Such calamities also helped bacteria to thrive.

The global health agency has noted that outbreaks of cholera oberved recently have resulted in far more deaths and higher fatality rate in more than a decade.

Climate change is helping spread of diarrhoea as well. Climate change has led to irregular rainfall which often results in wet or dry conditions.

Only pneumonia kills more children under the age of 5 than diarrhoea in the world.

Wildfires and heat-stress

Increasing average temperatures have made forests drier. This has made devastating wildfires a regular occurence compared to before.

In addition to this, heat stress has become a major issue caused by climate change. It is now projected that hundreds of millions of people as temperatures rise in next few decades.

The average world temperature is already around 1.1 degrees Celsius that that in pre-idustrial times. It was seen that in the year 2022, people across the world faced average of 86 days of temperatures that were dangerously high, said a report from Lancet medical journal published last month.

(With inputs from agencies)